Mortgage broker vs going direct to the bank
The short answer
Your bank can only sell you its own products; a whole-of-market broker compares deals across dozens of lenders, including ones you've never heard of who may price your exact situation best. Going direct works fine for vanilla cases with mainstream banks. For everyone else - and for anyone who values not doing the paperwork - the broker usually wins.
The core asymmetry
Walk into your bank and the best you can leave with is the best your bank offers. That's one shelf in a supermarket. Lenders price for the borrowers they want that quarter: one courts the self-employed, another prices keenly at 90% loan-to-value, a building society you've never heard of loves ex-local-authority flats. The market moves weekly, and knowing who wants your shaped case this month is a broker's entire job.
| Direct to bank | Whole-of-market broker | |
|---|---|---|
| Choice | One lender's range | Dozens of lenders, plus broker exclusives |
| Cost | No advice fee | Often free; fixed fees £300-£600 otherwise |
| Paperwork | Yours | Largely theirs |
| Odd cases | Computer says no ends it | Rerouted to a lender who says yes |
| Protection | Advised sales are FCA-regulated either way | Suitability duty across the market |
When direct is genuinely fine
Long banking relationship, salaried income, sensible deposit, standard house: your bank's retention and new-business deals can be competitive, and price-comparison sites let you sanity-check the market yourself in an evening. If you enjoy the admin and your case is clean, direct works.
The moment your case grows a wrinkle - self-employment, a thin credit file, a non-standard build, a tight completion deadline - the broker's knowledge of who says yes stops being a convenience and becomes the difference between an offer and a decline that scars your credit file.
See what the whole market says
Verified whole-of-market brokers review your situation for free and show you what your bank can't - no obligation, and no marks on your credit file at this stage.
Compare mortgage brokersCommon questions
Will using a broker hurt my credit score?
The initial conversation and an agreement in principle usually involve only a soft check. Hard checks come at full application, once, with the chosen lender - our AIP-to-offer guide walks the sequence.
Are broker exclusives real or marketing?
Real: lenders distribute some products only through intermediaries, sometimes at better rates or criteria. They're not automatically the best deal for you - but they're deals a direct applicant never sees.
Can I use a broker and still check comparison sites?
You should. Ten minutes on a comparison site gives you a benchmark; a good broker will happily explain why their recommendation beats what you found - or occasionally concede that it doesn't. That conversation is the value.
What does a broker cost?
Frequently nothing - lenders pay commission either way. Fixed fees of £300 to £600 are the common alternative; the full picture is in our broker fees guide.
Sources and further reading